Jet Set Style: How to Care for Your Hair in Different Climates

Anyone who has ever been trapped in a pressurised container and float across nebulous clouds for over five hours will understand the toll of a long-haul flight on our bodies. Dry skin and flat hair to name a few, the collective flummox that besets jet setters can be summarised in five simple words: how do celebrities do it?!

It seems Kendall Jenner’s hair is perennially and impossibly frizz-free as she struts across LAX, and Miranda Kerr’s chignons never fray even after ten hours of headrest static.

While it is not entirely impossible for us to achieve equally flawless tress, it requires a little more effort than tender loving care. Below are some fundamental hair care tips that will prove useful for your next flight out.

3 Basic Hair Care Tips

1. Flat Fix

Sleeping throughout your flight? Then, you might wake up with a big, flat spot on the back of your head. Thankfully, there’s a quick fix for this: dampen the area to correct root direction, then brush per normal.

2. Tangled Up

To prevent tangles from wreaking havoc on your airport style, a mini hairbrush will work the wonder. This tip requires more consistency as you will have to brush your hair every now and then to keep the knots out; if you try to brush out tangled hair, it can cause more damage as knotted strands are more prone to breakage.  

Otherwise, apply a hair mask and twirl your locks into a high bun to keep it in place.

3. Bring Your Own

Complimentary shampoos may contain sulphate that will strip your hair of its colour and leave those tresses looking uninspired. To protect your hair from damage, invest in some sulphate-free shampoo to bring along on your travel – the extra ka-ching you have to fork out will be worth it!

Now that we’ve covered the grounds of the fundamentals, let’s move on to the specifics. Depending on the weather that you will be acclimatising to, hair care has to be executed selectively. For one, in warm climate, a rise in humidity can cause the keratin proteins in your hair shaft to bond – this causes your hair to frizz in exaggerated manners, which you will then have to manage accordingly.

So like the saying goes, if there’s a will, there’s a way.  Assimilate the following curated tips to ensure your mane remains silky-looking be it in sweater weather or tropical paradise:  

3 Hair Care Tips for Tropical Paradise

1. UV Protection

UV rays are not only adverse for the skin, but they can overheat and damage your hair over significant periods of exposure. To protect it from the sun, a chic straw hat or hair spray with SPF protection will do the trick neatly.

2. Keep it dry

The secret to silky straight hair comes as a shocker: make sure your hair is completely dry before stepping out into the hot and humid weather! Yes, it’s that simple.

3. No Holds Barred

Slather your hair with oil or moisturiser before dipping into balmy water bodies. This will prevent your hair from absorbing any damaging chlorine or salt that can dry your hair out. Otherwise, DIY your own conditioner spray that will serve the same purpose by mixing one part conditioner and five parts water.

3 Hair Care Tips for Sweater Weather

1. Moist Heist

Frigid conditions can dry out your hair quickly, so it’s important to keep it moisturised. Argan oil is a great essence that does it’s job stalwartly but if you’d rather opt for other formulae, make sure the oil is not too heavy for your hair type.

2. Shampoo Less

Don’t wash your tresses every day! It can dry your hair out quickly and cause the colour to fade faster. Instead, alternate your shampoo schedule and have a bottle of dry shampoo to stand in between.

3. Cover Up

To keep toasty, an adorable wool beanie is the way to go – but sans “hat hair”. Prevent your head wear from leaving a mark when you wrap your mane with a silk scarf as a pre-emptive measure. This prevents damage to your hair and decreases the amount of static that may form from the friction between.

Credits: shutterstock / freepik